HBO is not going quietly over their loss in a lawsuit over a 1992 non-disparagement clause they signed with Michael Jackson’s estate.
(AllHipHop News) Bosses at HBO are heading back to court to contest the decision for their case against the Michael Jackson Estate to go to arbitration over its Emmy-winning “Leaving Neverland” documentary.
The late King of Pop’s estate is attempting to enforce a non-disparagement clause in a 1992 contract, which provided HBO with rights to air a televised concert following the release of Jackson’s album Dangerous.
The estate vehemently denies the allegations made against the hitmaker.
HBO previously had the case removed to federal court and attacked it as a “transparent effort to bolster their publicity campaign against the documentary.”
However, despite arguing the legal claims are premised on an old agreement that has been fully performed by the parties and thus terminated and is attempting to trample on its First Amendment rights by resurrecting the old contract, U.S. District Court Judge George H. Wu sent the case to arbitration in September.
Now, officials from the network are taking the case to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, at the advice of Judge Wu, although the grounds for the filing remain as yet unknown.
Bryan Freedman, an attorney for the Michael Jackson Estate, slammed the network’s “bogus appeal,” adding:
This appeal, which is its latest Hail Mary attempt, is even more pathetic than all of its other attempts to avoid public scrutiny… Our client will never stop until justice is served.
Bryan Freedman
